Cullman County man jailed for murder gets conviction overturned and sentence reduced after double jeopardy verdict

CULLMAN, Alabama (WBRC) – A man convicted in the death of a Cullman County man will now spend less time in prison after the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that he was double jeopardized.

Brett Amerson was convicted in 2023 of vehicular manslaughter, manslaughter, hit and run causing injury, driving under the influence, driving while license is suspended or revoked, and failure to yield the right of way in connection with the death of Bradley Patterson.

Patterson was riding a motorcycle on Highway 157 in December 2018 when Amerson struck and killed him with a pickup truck, according to court documents. Amerson was “highly intoxicated” when he was arrested.

Amerson argued in his appeal that a conviction for involuntary murder and manslaughter violated the principles of double jeopardy, and the court agreed with that view because “Amerson's convictions for involuntary murder and manslaughter were based on the killing of a single victim.”

The court remanded the case to the district court to overturn the manslaughter conviction and the sentence, which was 30 years.

The court also found that the principles of double jeopardy had been violated in his conviction for manslaughter and driving while under the influence of alcohol, although Amerson did not raise this point in his appeal, and ordered that the conviction for driving while under the influence of alcohol be quashed on remand.

The court also found that Amerson's conviction for failure to yield was unlawful and ordered the district court to hold a new sentencing hearing for that conviction.

These issues must be resolved within 56 days.

Amerson was originally sentenced to 130 years in prison.

Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker told WBRC: “Nothing in this appeals court's decision changes the most important thing: Brett Amerson remains a convicted murderer in state prison.”

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